Mr Shourie, who was telecom minister in the Vajpayee government, said he will assist the CBI in whatever way possible and will also submit a 50-page document giving details about broad questions like on first-come- first-serve basis policy that are appearing in the media

New Delhi: Former telecom minister Arun Shourie today appeared before the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) in connection with the second generation (2G) case and said the real issue involved kickbacks and not the policy pursued for spectrum allocation, reports PTI.

Before he went into the CBI headquarters where he was called for questioning, he said the government was trying to divert the attention from "real issues" by coming up with "rubbish arguments".

Mr Shourie, who was telecom minister in the Vajpayee government, said he will assist the CBI in whatever way possible and will also submit a 50-page document giving details about broad questions like on first-come- first-serve basis policy that are appearing in the media.

"It is a very interesting point (fist-come-first-serve-basis). It is a red herring shown to the public. The issue is that (former telecom minister) A Raja made money irrespective of whether it was a first-come-first- serve policy or not. That is why he was shown the door. He was put in jail.

"The issue is money being made in allocation of spectrum. Even more important was his (Mr Raja's) supervisors did not take action. They were sleeping. This is the issue."

Mr Shourie said to "divert the attention from this issue, government has come out with first-come-first-serve-basis argument."

Mr Shourie has appeared before the CBI for questioning in connection with the agency's probe into possible criminal aspects in the telecom policy since 2001.

Mr Shourie had held the telecom portfolio between January 2003 and May 2004 in the NDA regime.

According to the CBI, nearly 50 licences were given out then on a first-come-first-serve basis and Bharti, Vodafone and Idea were among the beneficiaries of the policy.

Mr Shourie said, "I was given the ministry in 2003. In 2001 guidelines, policy of first-come-first-serve basis was very clear. The arguments of this government are all rubbish."

The former telecom minister also lambasted Shivraj Patil Committee's report, saying these "signatures for hire" (referring to Mr Patil) did not see the documents themselves.

He said government has succeeded from diverting the attention from the real issue.

"While the media is busy covering visits of industrialists and corporates to the CBI, the Prime Minister's name is out, (DMK leader) M Karunanidhi's name is out. Names of other Congress members are out," he said.

Mr Shourie, however, praised the CBI saying it was a competent organisation if given a free hand.

He said as per his information, the CBI has spoken to the whistleblower who had given the inputs about the scam.

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Dinesh

6 years ago

Arun Shorie is right. 1st come policy is from before 2001. The real issue is not the policy but, How much A Raja, DMK and Congress shared the LOOT, done by selling spectrum cheap on papers and Cheats the Nation that loss was due to NDA's bad policy. It's well known that Govt Contracts are shared cuts, but 2g scam proves that Ministries are shared to loot the Nation on the name of Coalition Dharma.

People in India and China received over $3 billion each and together accounted for about 20% of the total for those 10 countries, according to data from the Congressional report titled "Migrant's Remittances and Related Economic Flows"

Washington: India received $3.2 billion in private remittances from the United States in 2009, almost the same as China, reports PTI quoting a new Congressional report.

In 2009, 10 countries accounted for over $32 billion, or about 40% of net private remittances and related flows from the United States, said the Congressional Budget Office in its report, "Migrant's Remittances and Related Economic Flows."

People in Mexico received about $20 billion, the largest single share by far, about 61% of the total receipts for the 10 countries.

"People in India and China received over $3 billion each and together accounted for about 20% of the total for those 10 countries," said the 28-page report.

"Between 2000 and 2009, net private remittances and related flows to those 10 countries grew by an average of 7% per year (not adjusted for inflation)," it said.

"Such transfers to people in India experienced double-digit growth over the period, rising from $1.1 billion in 2000 to $3.2 billion in 2009, an average increase of 13% per year," the report said.

Transfers to people in China rose from $1.5 billion in 2000 to $3.2 billion in 2009, an average increase of 9% per year.

Such transfers to Canada were erratic over the period; they rose from $0.5 billion in 2000 to $2.2 billion in 2009, but net outflows from Canada occurred in some of the intervening years.

Although a substantial share of net private remittances and related flows went to 10 countries-Mexico, China, India, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Taiwan and Japan-other countries experienced faster growth in such transfers over the past decade, the report said.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates that migrants' remittances totalled about $48 billion in 2009-nearly 70% more than official development assistance provided by the US government.

Nearly $38 billion of that amount was personal transfers by foreign-born residents in the United States to households abroad.

The rest, about $11 billion, reflected the compensation of employees who were in the United States for less than a year. Some of that compensation, however, was spent in the United States.

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They have forgotten to pack in the one most important ingredient... and that’s humour. And have instead added on the ‘obsession’ factor, but it falls a little flat

So then how do you depict the durability, the long-lasting effect of a hardware brand? Many routes have been tried by marketers. My most favourite one is the ad done by Greenply plywood some years ago. And that featured a re-incarnation sequence. A young Sikh boy accidentally discovers he was a Tamilian man in his past birth. And the memory is triggered by his wooden table he finds in his past house, which remains as solid as ever. And the exchange in Tamil between the little Sardarji boy and his past life wife Savithri was hilarious to say the least.

Asian Paints, for its brand Apex Ultima Exterior Paint, has tried to re-incarnate the re-incarnation trick, and I am afraid it doesn't really work. They have forgotten to pack in the one most important ingredient from the Greenply ad: and that's humour. And have instead added on the 'obsession' factor, but it falls a little flat.

The commercial features a neighbour who's obsessed with the next door house. And he spends his life longing for it. Why? Because having been painted with Apex Ultima, it's totally beautiful. Anyway, soon the bugger dies, but his obsession with the bungalow continues. And he is re-born as a colourful bird. Now, of course, no one can stop him (it). So the bird hangs around the house all the time, enjoying its well-painted interiors and exteriors. It also leaves droppings out of jealousy (that's my own little input, hehe).

Well, okay, the ad is cute. And if you push me a little harder, I may even smile a bit. The desired dual promise of durability and desire is brought out well. So all cool on that front. But, like I said, humour is the key in this commercial and on that score the creative falls in the average zone. Having been spoilt by Greenply's punar janam magic, the bar has been raised in our minds. And Asian Paints needs to do a lot better than this, especially considering it's a much larger, richer brand.

So, back to the drawing board, people. Re-incarnation to highlight durability is a powerful idea. And if you can't come up with a solid rendition in this life, come back and do it in your next avatar. Yes, the idea is as durable as the paint. It will last forever. Especially in India, where most people believe in the next life.